Mazmur 126:4

126:4 O Lord, restore our well-being,

just as the streams in the arid south are replenished. ¹ 

Yesaya 33:21

33:21 Instead the Lord will rule there as our mighty king. ² 

Rivers and wide streams will flow through it; ³ 

no war galley will enter; ⁴ 

no large ships will sail through. ⁵ 

Yesaya 35:7

35:7 The dry soil will become a pool of water,

the parched ground springs of water.

Where jackals once lived and sprawled out,

grass, reeds, and papyrus will grow.

[126:4]  ¹ tn Heb “like the streams in the Negev.”

[126:4]  sn The streams in the arid south. Y. Aharoni writes of the streams in the Negev: “These usually dry wadis collect water on rainy days from vast areas. The situation is also aggravated by floods from the desert mountains and southern Judah. For a day or two or, more frequently, for only a few hours they turn into dangerous torrents” (Y. Aharoni, The Land of the Bible, 26). God’s people were experiencing a “dry season” after a time of past blessing; they pray here for a “flash flood” of his renewed blessing. This does not imply that they are requesting only a brief display of God’s blessing. Rather the point of comparison is the suddenness with which the wadis swell during a rain, as well as the depth and power of these raging waters. The community desires a sudden display of divine favor in which God overwhelms them with blessings.

[33:21]  ² tn Heb “But there [as] a mighty one [will be] the Lord for us.”

[33:21]  ³ tn Heb “a place of rivers, streams wide of hands [i.e., on both sides].”

[33:21]  ⁴ tn Heb “a ship of rowing will not go into it.”

[33:21]  ⁵ tn Heb “and a mighty ship will not pass through it.”